Happy Hill Cemetery receives historic marker
The historic marker is located on the edge of Happy Hill Cemetery.
TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
As a fitting end to Juneteenth weekend, on Sunday, June 22, the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission unveiled a marker honoring Happy Hill Cemetery.
The origins of the Happy Hill Community date back to the 1813 when Dr. Friedrich Heinrich Schumann, a physician living in Bethania, tried to move to Salem with his enslaved African Americans. The Moravian Church agreed to allow Dr. Schumann to live on a plantation south of Salem, across Salem Creek.
In 1836, Dr. Schumann decided to free his slaves and allow them passage to Liberia. Eventually the Schumanns moved away, and the land stayed vacant for many years before it was revived. In 1867 Salem’s first Black neighborhood started to take shape when the first school was built on the site.
According to historical records. Happy Hill is the city’s earlier outlying neighborhood, with records dating back to 1872 when streets and lots were laid out on the former Schumann Plantation. In addition to dozens of homes and several churches, maps also show a theatre and dance hall in the neighborhood.
Happy Hill Cemetery was established in the late 1890s. There are nearly 1,500 burials on record. Over time, the site became overgrown, until those with a vested interest in the community started cleaning and caring for the cemetery in 2010. To date, there are approximately 115 visible grave makers, with many more that remain unmarked.
The effort to clean the cemetery and preserve that piece of history was started by Maurice Pitts-Johnson. Pitts-Johnson applied for the historic maker, and her grandson, Brian Bonner, made the presentation to the Historic Resources Committee.
The Pitts are descendants of Columbus and Alice Pitts, who settled in Happy Hill in 1887 and are buried in Happy Hill Cemetery. Pitts Street, which is named after the Pitts, connects to Willow Street, where the cemetery is located.
In his presentation to the committee, Bonner said he talked about the history of Happy Hill and its significance to Winston-Salem. “Fortunately, our efforts paid off and we were approved for this historic marker,” Bonner said. “Quite a few people have been involved in shining a light on the Happy Hill Community over the years, so thank you to everyone who played a part in making this day possible, including my grandmother, Maurice Pitts-Johnson.”
The Happy Hill Neighborhood Association (HHNA) has also played a major role in restoring the cemetery. HHNA President Tonya Sheffield said restoring the space has been a community effort that has been done with great humility and pride.
“This community that came together to do this work, had unconditional love for the work and the people of this community,” Sheffield said.
